


Let the Stars Bear Witness

by IrinyaClockworker



Series: wioverse [5]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Engagement, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21944425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrinyaClockworker/pseuds/IrinyaClockworker
Summary: Leorio's been carrying around a hellishly expensive diamond for a long time now. It's high time he got his money's worth.
Relationships: Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight
Series: wioverse [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1555888
Comments: 13
Kudos: 165





	Let the Stars Bear Witness

Leorio thinks about selling the ring. He really does.

It'd make him a lot of money, that's for sure--especially if he did it right. It'd be a great help towards his goal.

But for some reason he can't figure out, he feels like he shouldn't part with it. Not yet.

Leorio thinks about selling the ring. But he doesn't.

It's hard to find a place with a good view of the stars. Light pollution has ruined a lot of that--but Kurapika likes to watch the stars. It makes him feel at peace. So Leorio looks and looks until he finds the perfect spot.

He doesn't tell Kurapika where they're going. There was a time that Kurapika would have _needed_ to know, would have been unable to accept being unprepared for a situation, but times have changed, and he goes along without complaint.

The spot in question is a small hill beyond the city limits. Leorio's brought a blanket so they don't have to lie on the grass, and they lie down next to each other, hands almost unconsciously intertwining. At this point, it's practically second nature.

Leorio doesn't normally have any interest in the stars. But Kurapika is pointing them out to him, telling him about Kurta constellations, both the ones visible in the sky and the ones that aren't, and when Kurapika talks about his home and his people he becomes animated and smiles brightly, and anything becomes interesting, even stars. He knows he won't be able to remember them all, but he'll try anyway.

"Thank you," Kurapika finally says, a contented smile on his face. "Thank you for bringing me here. It's beautiful."

"It is," Leorio agrees, but he's not talking about the stars.

Kurapika turns his head to the side, and their eyes meet. He has his contacts in, since they're outside--but Leorio doesn't need to see his eyes to know that Kurapika is happy. His soft, genuine smile--what used to be such a rare thing--says all it needs to.

Leorio had had a speech planned. Sort of. But he finds himself forgetting it, looking at that smile. All he knows is he doesn't ever want to lose it again.

"Kurapika..." His mouth goes dry. He's lost the words.

"Yes?" Kurapika has no such troubles, and moves a little closer. That's only making it harder.

"I, I have something. For you, I mean. I..." He's fumbling now, both verbally and physically. The box is _in his pocket,_ damn it. If he could just get a grip--

Kurapika is watching him with what seems like fond amusement. Well, at least he's enjoying watching Leorio make a fool of himself. _There._ The box is in his hand now, and he opens it, holding it out.

Kurapika's reaction is... not the one he's expecting.

"This is for me?" he asks, and Leorio nods dumbly. "It's very beautiful, Leorio. Thank you." He takes it and slips it onto his finger, and holds his hand up, admiring it for a moment. Then he pauses. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"...Is that a 'yes'?"

"A yes to _what?_ You haven't asked me anything."

Oh. _Oh._ Leorio is _such an idiot._

"Kurapika... how do members of the Kurta clan ask someone to marry them?"

A brief look of utter confusion flashes across Kurapika's face. "Like this," he says slowly, and then starts to speak, in that old, beautiful language Leorio has come to know as the language of Kurapika's home. 

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know if there's really a good way to translate it." Kurapika's brow furrows. "I'll try. Um... _May our paths be one... May I celebrate with you in your joy and comfort you in your sorrow. May our eyes... burn together. May our love last to... the end of this world, and the beginning of the next._ It's not really the same... it loses a lot in translation. And, if the other person agrees, they say this--" He recites something else Leorio can't understand. "Which means _let the stars bear witness."_

Leorio can't help but smile at that. "Well, the stars are already here."

"..." Kurapika stays silent for a long moment, and then his eyes blow wide. "Are you--"

"Yeah. I'm... I'm asking you to marry me, Kurapika. I--"

 _"Yes!"_ Kurapika practically throws himself at Leorio, hugging him tightly, stammering out "yes, yes, yes," over and over again, and Leorio winds up flat on his back with Kurapika crying into his chest, and it's fine. It's more than fine. It's amazing.

"You didn't let me finish," he complains jokingly, and Kurapika manages a tearful laugh.

"I'm not--I'm not taking it back."

"I wasn't asking you to."

He lays his head back, and for a moment, it really does feel like the stars are watching.

They get married twice. The first time is two months after the proposal, and it's all rather formal. They wear suits and invite colleagues--for some reason, several of the Zodiacs seem almost exasperated. There's cake, of course, and all the trappings of weddings, but neither of their hearts are really into it. It's mostly for legal purposes.

The second wedding is the 'real' one. It takes months to prepare for, mostly on Kurapika's end. He's the only one who knows what's going on, after all. Occasionally he'll send one of them to try and find something at a store, but most of it he takes on himself.

The thing he tasks Leorio with that's most important is to find a location. _"Somewhere... open. And green."_ That's not much to go on, but he already has a place in mind--the hill where he'd proposed. When he brings it up to Kurapika, he could swear he sees a glimmer of red, before Kurapika agrees that yes, it will do nicely.

They decide ahead of time who they're inviting to this one. Kurapika wants it to be a small, private affair, so they keep it simple; just them and the kids. _A family wedding,_ Leorio remarks once, and has the pleasure of seeing Kurapika's eyes shine bright in response. 

He writes out the Kurta wedding song, and gives a copy to each of them, highlighting the parts they'll be responsible for and asking them to learn it by heart if possible. And he takes it upon himself to teach Leorio to dance. Or to dance _properly,_ as he once said, eyes gleaming and corners of his mouth twitching upward. Both of those things are difficult. Both of them are worth it.

The day before the wedding, Kurapika unveils what he's been working on all this time--traditional robes, blue and red and gold, with patterns more intricate than any of his other clothes. And... there's six sets, two of which are still more detailed than the other four.

"For all of us?" Leorio asks, and Kurapika nods, his eyes glowing with happiness and pride.

Yet even that color is nothing compared to the color displayed the next day.

The others have to be helped into their clothing, much to Kurapika's amusement. Leorio feels a lot like he's being laughed at. He can live with it.

Kurapika himself is... stunning. That's not even a good enough word, but Leorio doesn't know what _is_ good enough. 

He's been walked through the ceremony before, several times, actually, but he's sure he slips up a few times--stumbles over a Kurta word, nearly trips over his own clothing... Yet somehow they make it all the way to the end without any serious mishaps.

Kurapika's eyes are shining the most beautiful color Leorio's ever seen as he speaks the traditional Kurta wedding vows, ending with a sentence Leorio is quite familiar with by now. 

_"Let the stars bear witness."_

Leorio repeats them back, fumbling, but each mistake only makes Kurapika's smile a little wider.

Kurapika eats a small bowl of berries Leorio's never seen before, but that make Kurapika smile blissfully. There's a little bit of juice at the corner of his mouth afterwards, so Leorio reaches out to wipe it off, and Kurapika pulls him into a kiss instead.

By the time they separate, the sweet taste of those berries lies heavily on his tongue.

And then Kurapika starts to sing.

It's high and clear and beautiful, and for a moment, Leorio forgets that he's supposed to join in. Only Kurapika's beckoning hand reminds him, and he takes it, shortly after pulled nearly off his feet into the dance Kurapika had worked so hard to teach him. He's pretty sure he makes several mistakes anyway, but Kurapika looks... so happy.

He doesn't even register the others there singing. He hears Kurapika, and Kurapika only. And all he can see is that indescribable scarlet.

When it ends, and Kurapika pulls him into another kiss, he can barely think.

He doesn't really need to. He already knows everything he needs to know, right now.

"God, I love you," he whispers, and Kurapika beams, replying in the language of his people. Whether it's intentional or not doesn't matter. Leorio knows exactly what he's saying, anyway.

_"I love you, too."_


End file.
